The Struggle of Charley Brewster
by FallOfTheReichenbach
Summary: Set in the 1985 version. What if during the confrontation scene Jerry awoke some confusing feelings in the teen? Feelings that made Charley more desirable alive...
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! This is my second story on Fanfiction. I probably should finish my first one, but I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time. This chapter is rushed, due to that I'm using it as a sample to see what people think. If you like the idea, please let me know so I can continue it properly. If not, then still let me know so I can take it down. Also, a lot of the chapter is the original fright night script but this will also be changed if it annoys anyone.**

 **Thank you to those who are taking the time to read the story, it means a lot.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own 'Fright Night'**

Usually Charley was a rational person. If someone had asked him a few days prior, whether he believed in vampires, he would have told them that the very idea was preposterous. However, his neighbour Jerry Dandridge had soon changed his beliefs. The young teen was unfortunate enough to witness said neighbour biting a young girl, as well as the many screams of pure terror that he heard in the dead of night. He was a smart boy, and was able to piece two and two together. That, and the prostitute he had saw entering Dandridge's lair had turned up dead the morning after. No one believed him of course, who would? Charley could hardly believe that it was happening.

After Evil Ed had told him all the information he required and given him a cross, all for a price of course, he rushed home in order to vampire proof it. He doubted that his mother would be foolish enough to invite the monster in, but he wanted to build up his defences, just in case. He was on Jerry's hit list, and for the duration of that his and his mothers' necks would not be safe.

Charley had just finished hammering the last nail into the window sill, before placing the hammer down and giving an experimental push on the window. It did not move an inch. A small grin of triumph curled his lips upwards. There were no way that Jerry could force his way into the house now, especially if his mother didn't invite him in. He would be able to sleep soundly at night, knowing that there was nothing that blasted vampire could do to harm him,"Charley could you come down here a minute please? There's someone I'd like you to meet!" His mother's shrill voice called from downstairs. He knew that tone of voice, it was most likely that she was entertaining male company. She had been lonely since Charley's father had left, so the teen gave his blessing for her to move on. He whistled a little tune as he made his way downstairs,"Yeah mum?" He practically skipped down the stairs. He had never felt so happy in years. He had managed to out-wit a vampire, who was God knows how old. He was feeling rather proud of himself, after all how often could one do that? He made his way into the living room. His mother stood by her best chair, dressed in her finest with one of her deadly Bloody Marys One sip of his mother's concoction and one would be knocked out for the rest of the evening. Charley paid no mind to the lean figure splayed out in the chair. His mother gave him a warm, delightful smile,"Charley, this is our next door neighbour Jerry Dandridge." The teens eyes focused on the figure now. They trailed up from the long legs, to the trench coat and red scarf clad torso, to both hands. One holding a Bloody Mary. The other, fingers tapping mockingly on the head rest restricting the head from the boy's line of sight. A familiar ring on the offending hand managed to strike fear within Charley's very core. He knew that ring all too well. It mocked him as it glinted in the moonlight, when Jerry pulled down the blind so he would have no witnesses to the murder. Soon the fingers ceased their tapping, and the hand fell as the head came into view. Charley was met with the handsome face of Jerry Dandridge. His face twisted into a malicious grin, that to outsiders would have seemed charming. But to Charley, it caused a white hot panic to settle in the pit of his stomach,"Hello Charley." he said.

The vampire rose out of his seat, causing Charley to move back. Jerry was an imposing figure. The young boy felt intimidated. As Jerry advanced, Charley found he could not move anymore. His brain seeming to have stopped working, as fear paralysed every muscle within his body. Once in front of him, Jerry extended a hand which Charley was unable to respond to. Not that he wished to. Time seemed to slow down, as Charley's nightmares came to life. Jerry's hand was not in the air for more than five seconds, before Charley's mother's voice seemed to bring him out of his terrified state. She had followed Dandridge over like a puppy, she was already enticed by him,"Well Charley don't be rude, shake hands." His mother thought she was being a good host. But Charley could not curse her enough in that very moment. There was a knowing glint in Jerry's eye. He knew he had managed to hit one of Charley's nerves. Taking a gulp to try and swallow the lump of worry that had grown there, and wiping his perspiring hand on his jeans Charley stared at the ring clad hand for a while longer before accepting. The shake was slow, Jerry's grasp tight. It took everything within Charley not to recoil at the vampire's cold skin. He did not want to alarm his mother. Although, he did pull away as soon as he was able. Jerry's infernal smirk made Charley unable to make eye contact. He was too frightened. He felt vulnerable, and he hated it,"What's he doing here?" Charley questioned his mother, keeping his eyes trained on the red scarf that came to a stop at the vampire's torso. The older mother smiled,"I invited him over for a drink." Her tone was that of incertitude, possibly wondering why her child looked likehe had seen a ghost. Charley's jaw dropped in astonishment an anger as he turned to face his mother with wild eyes, amazed at her foolishness,"You did what?"

"I invited him over." Her face contorted into one of curiosity. Charley knew his mother must have been questioning her son's strange behaviour, but he would have to leave it be. He could not tell her of Dandridge's true nature, it would most likely end with the spilling of her blood as he was tortured slowly to death. So mercilessly, that death would seem like bliss,"Why?"

"What's the matter Charley?" Jerry's voice cut in,"Afraid I never come over without being invited first?" He turned to face the woman of the house, and both shared in a small chuckle. Charley would have been concerned by the brush of her hand on the vampire's chest, but he was too busy worrying about his own life at the moment; no matter how much it shamed him. Because of his mother, he was no longer safe, the surge of victory he felt earlier had dissipated. Some would call it Karma. Others, bad luck,"You're right, you're quite right. Of course, uhh, now that I've been made welcome I'll probably drop by quite a bit. In fact, any time I feel like it." That smirk was back, those perfect whites caused Charley to tremble in fear. Jerry had just made a promise. He was coming after Charley, and it would be soon. He was taunting the teen, alerting him to the fact that he was no longer safe anywhere. Charley's mother looked at Jerry in question, possibly finding his views impolite. Although, one look from him and he was back under his glamour. His spell,"With your mother's kind permission of course." The woman gave a charming smile, she was light headed with the prospect of a handsome young gentleman coming knocking at her door. It made Charley sick,"Oh Jerry, any time." She agreed, her breath coming out in light pants,"It's so nice that someone interesting has finally moved into the neighbourhood." Charley began to back away towards the door, taking the vampire's threat seriously. Jerry's eyes watched him, a predatory gleam that grew with each step. The chase began, and each move made Jerry's hunger more insatiable. Charlie bumped into a near-by coffee table with alerted his mother to his eager departure. All the while the leech was grinning,"Charley are you alright?" His mother questioned. Charley wished she would shut up and let him leave, could she not see how much danger she had put her only son in?! Inhaling for courage, Charley decided to answer, knowing that it would be the quickest way she would allow him to leave,"Y-yeah mum." His voice quivered, and he berated himself for being so weak. No doubt the beast could smell it, rolling in waves off him. He could see the hunger in those deep brown orbs. It scared him,"I'm fine. I've just got to get back to my trig'. That's all."

"Nice to meet you Charley." Jerry's voice had a numbing effect on the young boy, and not in a good way. Charley turned to leave, but was once again stopped by that voice,"See ya'. Soon." And there was the conformation that Charley would see him later on in the evening. That was all he needed to leave the room. He was in such a hurry that he bumped into the coat hanger, breathing deeply to try and return oxygen to his lungs. The tension in that room was so thick, it had weighed down on him. Suffocated him. He wondered how his mother had not felt it. Charley ran up the stairs, his eyes never leaving the doorway of the living room in fear that he would emerge right then and there, and end his life.

The hours passed until it was the late hours of the evening. Charley had fallen asleep in his chair, facing the window in case Jerry decided to break in. Charley would not be caught by surprise. He was startled from his sleep when he heard a noise from the roof. It sounded like heavy footsteps, and with each one his breath left him. Cautiously, he left his room whilst holding the small golden cross in his vice like grip. Before leaving his room, he said a silent prayer for those could have been the very last few moments of his life before Jerry savagely ripped into his neck and drained him of blood. Charley looked around the corner of the hall, hearing a faint scratching sound coming from downstairs. Perhaps Jerry was trying to get in? Charley gingerly tip-toed his way to the stairs, taking care not to make a sound. It was bad enough that the bastard could probably hear his tiny heart beating at a frantic speed. The adolescent boy swiftly made his way down the stairs, cross clutched tightly to his chest. Once he was at the bottom, he held the cross in front of him as he stared at the living room window. As he got closer, he could see that it was tightly locked and the sound was nothing more than the tree branches scratching against the glass. He sighed in relief, glad that there was no cause for concern.

Charley made his way back up the stairs briskly, his aura that of tranquillity. Once inside his room, his made his way to the window just in time to see the light in Jerry's room turn off. He stared at the window, making sure that there were no signs of life within. When he was satisfied, he let out a yawn. His body fatigued with the day's events. However, he was not able to indulge in his relaxation long as he felt a presence behind him. An evil aura. He quickly turned around, only to have his throat grabbed tightly by the vampire who wished to kill him. Charley gasped in pain as he was raised from the floor, his hands clawing desperately at the hand that crushed his delicate pipe,"Now we wouldn't want to wake your mother Charley." Jerry said. His tone was not innocent, and the teen knew that he had something horrid in store for his little observer,"Then I'd have to kill her too." His voice was that of psychotic glee. He took pleasure in the way Charley's eyes widened in fear for his mother,"Right?" Using only a tad of his strength, he hurled to young boy across the room. Charlie's back crashed into the wardrobe doors and splintered them as his back landed on the floor beyond. Charley winced, his back throbbing with pain which was soon dulled out with the adrenaline now coursing through his veins. Using this new found energy, Charley sat up only to see the vampire advancing towards him once more. This time, no farce politeness or charming smiles. His face was one of utter rage, and disregard for human life. Charley began to pant heavily, with each step Dandridge took the more fear he instilled within the poor boy. As he stood before him, Jerry grabbed Charley by the throat once more and pulled him out of the wardrobe. Charley spluttered and gasped in pain, as his air supply was cut off. He tried desperately to pry those strong hands off his neck,"Do you know how much trouble you've caused me?" Jerry asked, his tone one of passionate anger. He took delight in watching the younger boy squirm under his power, and Charley despised how utterly powerless he was in that moment,"Spying on me?" Jerry started to walk to the other side of the room, carrying Charley with him,"Almost disturbing my sleep, this afternoon. Telling policemen about me!" His rage overcame him, and he slammed Charley into the nearby wall. Charley momentarily had the wind knocked out of him. The adrenaline doing nothing now to stop the fresh pain in his head and back. The dry wall of his room dented due to the impact from his head, the dust falling around him as Jerry bared his teeth at him. Charley's feet kicked helplessly as he was raised into the air, Jerry's grip on him becoming increasingly tight. Charlie managed to break his mini-pinball machine with the force of his flailing legs. Charley gasped deeply, trying to return air to his deflating lungs,"You deserve to die boy." Jerry brought his face closer, his cool breath ghosting over Charley's face. It caused something to stir deep within the boy. His hormones were going wild with all the mixed signals of relaxation one minute; to fear; to survival mode. Was he excited? Jerry must have sensed it, because he gave Charley a little knowing smirk before releasing his grip slightly,"Of course." He knew the effect he had on Charley. This would not be the first time a teenager has confronted him,"I'm going to give you something I don't have. A choice." He said finally. It would be easier to allow the teen to live, it was less messy,"Forget about me Charley. Forget about me, and I'll forget about you." Charley fumbled in his pocket for his cross. He would never accept a deal from a vampire,"What do you say Charley?" Jerry shook him with impatience, forcing Charley to show him the cross. Jerry caught the adolescents' wrist without breaking eye contact, and forced pressure on the fragile bones causing Charlie to drop it. Charley winced, not from pain but more from the sound of his bones fracturing under the vampire's strong grip. It was sickening. Jerry shook his head in disappointment,"Fool." And in that moment, Charley couldn't agree more. He was a fool, but he would be damned before he let a murder win over him. Increasing his grip once more, Jerry made sure that Charley would not be able to breathe at all. The young boy was dragged to the other side of the window, his nails scraping along the window frame as he tried to stop the movement. For some reason, with all the mixed hormones and light-headedness, he felt giddy and excited. He was ashamed to admit it, but it felt like some kind of pleasure. Jerry smelt it. He could smell the hormones rolling in waves off the kid. He had to admit, that it was intoxicating, fear and excitement rolled into one. It was the first he had smelt the combination from a male, but for some reason that made the scent richer and deeper. Blood from a man had always had a richer taste; a woman's was more sweet, sometimes sickly. Charley flailed even more when the vampire brought his head to the nape of his neck, and inhaled deeply. He was going to bite him, and with Charley still being a virgin he would be turned! He didn't want that! His left hand groped blindly on his desk, movements becoming more frantic when he felt Jerry's fangs lightly tracing over the pulsing artery of his neck. He managed to send a photo of Amy crashing to the floor, put soon found his pencil pot and without a second thought, through his haze he managed to stab Jerry in the hand which was holding his throat. The wooden pencil cut through the vampire's skin like it was butter, and Jerry screamed after dropping Charley and retreating to a safe distance.

Charley massaged his sore throat, regaining his regular breathing pattern as he observed the vampire in front of him. Charlie saw how Jerry turned his hand over, observing the damage done by the pencil. With a grunt, he managed to pull it free and turned to face his young attacker. The sight that Charley was met with was grotesque to say the least. Anyone would be a fool to not admit that Jerry Dandridge was an attractive person. However, how he was now, his true form, would send everyone running to the hills. Jerry's forehead was elongated to an unbelievable length; eyes bloodshot with white hot pupils burning with loathing and rage; and his teeth long and protruding from his dry lips. Charley could hardly believe such a transformation could occur. The vampire snarled at him, swiping the air with his talons,"You'll pay for that boy!" He proceeded to growl with such force that Charley had to brace himself against the wall. Dandridge advanced, his snarling mouth lunging for Charley's unmarred neck-

Until Charley's mother started screaming for her son, to which Jerry had to halt his murder attempt. Charley watched on in amazement as Jerry's features twisted and contorted until he was the vision of man again, although his true form would never be wiped from his mind. Never would he allow himself to forget. Dandridge clenched his wounded hand into a fist, then leaned down to Charley's ear. Charley closed his eyes, awaiting the imminent fangs but instead he only felt Jerry's cold breath ghosting over the shell of his ear,"You're not safe from me Charley. Just you wait." After blowing air into the trembling boy's ear, Jerry was gone just as Charley's mother broke free from the confines of her room. She was surprised to see his room a wreck, her boy falling to his knees as he held his throat now with the light dusting of violet. What broke her heart most, were the tears in his eyes,"Charley!" She ran over to him, dropped to her knees and threw her arms around him cradling him to her chest,"What happened?"  
"A-a nightmare mum." Charley could hear the faint sounds of glass smashing and metal warping into shapes it should not. He had a feeling that Jerry was destroying his car, but at the current moment he could not care less. He had never felt so in danger; so utterly defenceless against one of the most vicious creatures in history.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello there. First of all I would like to apologise to all those who thought this would be Chapter Two of 'The Struggle of Charley Brewster', I shall get on to that topic in a second as there are a couple of things I would like to address first.**

 **Now I know Author's Notes are not really allowed, but I would just like to say a massive thank you to anyone who has read, reviewed and favourited this story it really means a lot. To me, the response for something that originally started out as an idea was just incredible. That has given me all I needed to continue and make it a whole story. So again, thank you so much!**

 **For the topic of the story itself, I've come back to re-read the first chapter a couple of times and I realised I was not happy with my writing style. It was incredibly rushed and I did not take as much time and care with it as I should have. I'm also not happy with the fact that I clung to the original script so tightly for a lifeline, when in writing you have the freedom to change so many things and yet hope they still work. I lack the courage for experimentation. That is why I have made this decision. I am going to rewrite 'The Struggle of Charley Brewster'.**

 **I will keep this chapter up as a backup in case anyone doesn't like where I'm taking the new version. Updates will not be frequent as I have school, work and roughly four other projects I'm working on which spread out to my other account and to FanFiction's sister site FictionPress. I know I'm just making up excuses and I really want to write more, and I feel I owe it to you guys who want a second chapter of this. I will have the chapter up either by this evening or by the end of the week, hopefully the former. I will keep the original script but this time I will stray from it a little with the stage directions etc.**

 **Thank your for being so patient and an amazing audience! xx**

 **FallOfTheReichenbach**


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